Goodbye Forever?
by Ariel3JLP
Summary: When Martin is shot and critically injured, Samantha must finally come to grips with how she really feels about him. MS
1. Default Chapter

Jack and Vivian were covering Samantha, Danny and Martin as they advanced towards the door at the end of the abandoned hallway. It was dusk and the light in the building was quickly diminishing. There was a sliver of light beaming at them as they inched nearer to the door and they could hear the murmur of many voices in the apartment beyond.

Jack gave the signal that he and Viv were ready to cover the others. Martin locked eyes with Sam and nodded his head at Danny. Samantha had never seen Martin this anxious before. It was a missing little girl, abducted by four adult males. He desperately wanted this little girl to be alive and he hadn't stopped worrying since the first call came in.

The team was ready for this one. Martin walked slowly towards the door, silently gripping his gun. He prepared to kick down the door and Samantha and Danny lifted their guns behind him. But then, everything went wrong.

Vivian doubled over and began coughing loudly and breathing heavily. Jack instinctively lowered his gun to make sure she was okay. Samantha and Danny turned to look but they weren't the only one's who heard. One man opened the door, a pistol in his right hand. His cold eyes fell first upon Martin, who was a mere five feet from the door. Time seemed to stop as Samantha watched what happened next.

The gruff kidnapper held the gun up and fired a single shot that was so forceful it pushed Martin back into the wall where he collided with a door frame and fell limply to the hard cement floor.

Samantha screamed and tried to run to him. Luckily, this diverted the man's attention away from the unconscious agent that he was currently advancing towards and made him realize that four other FBI agents had just witnessed his attempted murder. Unfortunately, it made him focus on the hysterical blonde.

Danny, who always thought quick on his feet, grabbed Samantha around the middle and pulled her out of the gunman's range despite her irrational fighting. He then proceeded to call in for back up.

Shouts of, "FBI, get out of here!" and "Forget the kid," could be heard, echoing off of the bare walls soon to be followed by numerous sets of running footsteps. She knew that Jack and the NYPD would be chasing the suspects by now and Vivian was carefully examining the little girl. She knew that she and Danny should be out trying to help Jack or Viv and that the police would take care of Martin, but the sight of his pained expression before hitting the wall would not leave. The torture that was being inflicted upon her mind that he might be seriously injured wouldn't leave. And the feeling that her heart had stopped beating at the thought of Martin being…dead, was more than she could handle.

Danny checked around the corner and when he said it was all clear, Sam rushed from where she was behind him and sprinted to Martin's side.

At the sight of his unconscious body, Sam nearly began crying and hyperventilating at the same time. She lifted his head and checked his pulse. She had not been able to tell exactly where he'd been shot and didn't want to imagine the varying possibilities.

When she discovered that he was still breathing she realized that she had been holding her breath. She could hear Danny on the radio calling in for an ambulance.

"Where'd he get hit?" he asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Left shoulder. That's going to be fine, but he hit his head on the corner here," and she pointed to the door frame without ever looking away from Martin's motionless face, "and then hit it hard on the floor. He may have a concussion." She said all of this in a very shaky voice and was happy that it was Danny on her right and not Jack or Vivian.

"Well, a concussion is a lot better than it could have been." He had meant for this to be comforting but it only caused Samantha to swallow hard. Danny saw the fear behind her eyes, welling up. He put a comforting hand on her back and tried to soothe her while knowing that she was silently praying for Martin to open his eyes.

Danny did not know exactly what was going on between Samantha and Marty, but he knew that it was something special. Sam had a light in her eyes and laughter in her heart, something he had never seen in her before. Martin seemed to have struck a chord somewhere in Samantha that had never been heard before. She was happy, and for that, Danny would forever be grateful.

"Damn it, why aren't the EMT's here yet?" Samantha said loudly, the frustration barely covering up the worry. Danny didn't really know what to do. Nothing would comfort her except for the sound of Martin's voice right now, and at this precise moment he was not available to save her.

At the exact same time, EMT's showed up to check Martin's vitals and then take him to the hospital and Jack and Vivian walked over to where Samantha and Danny sat crouching over Martin's limp body. Neither Jack nor Vivian thought anything of Samantha's highly uncharacteristic show of emotions. In fact, Jack figured that hearing the gunshot had merely reverted her back to a few years previously and frightened her.

"Sam, do you want me to drive you to the hospital?" Danny asked her as the EMT's lifted Martin up and began carrying him out to the ambulance. Her gaze had still not broken from Martin but she shook her head.

"If it's okay, I'd like to ride with him." This time she looked at Jack, pleading for this chance to return the favor Martin had once done for her.

"Sure, the rest of us will meet you there." He thought nothing of her odd request and nothing of her lightning fast departure.


	2. Waiting and Watching

**Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…**

**A/N-**I love Without a Trace and I love the fact that Samantha and Martin are together now. I have missed a lot of episodes throughout the show though so if I mess up some details just let me know in a review and I'll do my best to fix it.

**Chapter Two: Waiting and Watching**

Samantha rode all the way to the nearest hospital holding onto Martin's hand although he was completely unaware. She tried not to worry but seeing the blood all over his shirt and the continous paling of his face did not help in the slightest.

"Why isn't he waking up?" she asked trying to keep the anxiousness out of her voice but to no avail. The EMT looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. She knew her feelings were written all over her face but she didn't really care at this point. Martin, the best person she had ever known was lying, unconscious in an ambulance.

"_What if he never wakes up?"_ Sam thought. It shocked her so much that she instantly pushed the thought from her mind but felt the corners of her eyes sting with potential tears. She would not allow herself to cry, not until she knew something concrete. _"I'm just overreacting," _she told herself.

"Is there a reason that you care so much?" the smug looking EMT asked her. There was a moment when she seriously considered giving him the finger but thought better of it. She shook her head.

"I know what you're thinking, but you're way off track. He's been my co-worker for almost three years now and I'm just really worried." She knew that he didn't believe her but something triggered a memory as a conversation she and Martin had had earlier that morning came rushing back to her.

"_Morning," she said smiling at him. He was sitting at her table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the sports page. He immediately turned to her and returned the smile. It wasn't any smile though, it was the one that he reserved especially for her. His eyes lit up and it seemed as if everything had disappeared for him except for her._

"_Morning." She leaned over and kissed him and the sweetness of his lips reminded her of the previous night of passion they had shared. He smiled into her kiss and she pulled away and gave him a questioning look._

"_I love it when you've got morning breath." He smiled at her again and she laughed._

"_Sorry," she said but he kissed her again and she instantly felt higher than she had been only moments ago. He usually seemed to have that effect on her and it drove her crazy. How did he have this control over her without even trying? He could get anything he wanted by merely looking at her and yet he never asked for anything…well, maybe just one thing._

_They drank their coffee silently before she went to shower._

"_See you at work," she said, knowing that Martin had already showered and would catch a cab back to his apartment to get dressed and still beat her to the office. _

_The office, she stopped and turned around just as he stood up to go and get his keys and phone. She kissed him again, this time with more passion. When she pulled away he asked,_

"_What was that for?"_

"_I just wanted one for the road. Sometimes it kills me to try and keep my hands off you around everyone else and I can just tell, today will be one of those days." She smiled at him, thinking that he would find this funny, but was shocked to see that there was hurt and a hint of anger behind his eyes. "What's wrong?"_

"_I was just wondering...why can't we tell everyone? I mean, we don't have to make out in the middle of a meeting or anything but would it be so bad to get it out in the open. I mean, Danny is already asking, it won't take too long for Viv and Jack to figure it out either."_

_He sighed when he saw her body tense up as it always did on the rare occasions that he chose to push this subject. She looked away for a moment, deciding how to handle the conversation this time but then looked directly into his eyes._

"_I'm just not ready to. It's the office, it's nobody's business if we're seeing each other or not." She knew that each word she said was causing him more pain but for some reason the thought of flat out telling Jack, Vivian and Danny that she and Martin were together scared her._

"_Why is that Sam? Why aren't you ready?" She shook her head in disbelief like she always did whenever he wouldn't drop it which was more and more often these days. When she didn't answer he continued questioning her. "Are you ashamed of me? Are you regretting that you ever invited me over?"_

"_Don't be ridiculous!" she half shouted at him and slammed her empty coffee mug down on the coffee table. "If I had regretted it don't you think I would have ended it, let's say five or so months ago?"_

"_Fine, maybe you're not ashamed of me. What else could it be? You think you can do better than me? I mean, you did have Jack, right? He was willing to do this with a wife, kids and job at stake. Or is it just Jack, Sam? You're afraid that if you tell them about us then it will _really_ be over between the two of you." He hadn't meant for it to go there, he had never brought up her relationship with Jack before, at least not to use it against her. True, he had asked her about what went wrong but that had ended with him promising never to hurt her the way that Jack had. He had never let on that he thought she preferred Jack to him or that he was jealous at all._

"_I can't believe you just said that to me," she said quietly after a long pause. "I am not a suspect in one of our cases Martin, you can't interrogate me as if I've done something terribly wrong." She looked at him knowing that he was regretting bringing Jack up but that he was probably relieved to have finally said it. "I'm through with this right now, I'll see you in the office and we can finish this conversation later." She turned on her heel and stalked to the bathroom leaving Martin feeling deserted and angry._

_She stood right next to the door, listening for his reaction. Twice that morning he had shocked her now. He didn't scream or throw anything. She could hear him breathing deeply and knew that he was fighting very hard to contain himself but he didn't lash out at all. He was so different from any other guy she had ever dated. He didn't even slam the door on his way out. She heard him pick up his keys and walk into the bedroom to collect his clothes and then quietly close and lock the door._

_The whole day it had been quite tense between the two of them. Once or twice when she would be in the break room he would walk in and try to say something but she silenced him by saying that they shouldn't talk about it when the others can hear. For the first time since she had started dating Martin, she truly regretted that they worked in such close proximity. How could she have forgotten what it was like to be upset with someone and not show it without rising questions. She knew that Martin was probably having an even harder time because she had hurt him this morning._

She snapped out of her daze when the EMT told her to open the door and move out of the way.

"His blood pressure is dropping rapidly. We need to get him inside right now. Go to the waiting area in the lobby of the ER, tell them you're waiting for Martin Fitzgerald and the doctor will come and notify you as soon as he is stable." Fear took hold of her whenever she looked down and saw that Martin's lips were completely white. She nodded silently, not completely trusting herself to speak.

She watched them run his body inside telling people to move. She stood there, not moving and silent for a while until the driver told her that if she didn't move he would run her over. This time she did give the guy the finger but moved and walked towards the lobby entrance.

She could hear her footsteps echoing in the empty and tiled hallway. The waiting room was very bright and it was silent. There was only one other person in the room and he was sound asleep, spreading out over four of the very uncomfortable chairs. She thought this must be very strange, an empty ER in New York City.

She was only there by herself for fifteen minutes before she heard the voices of Danny and Vivian echoing through the hallway. She was happy to see them because she really needed something to distract her from the horrible thoughts that were reverberating off the inside of her skull just like the snores from the sleeping man bounced off of the walls.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Danny asked when he saw her. Vivian had walked to the front desk to see if there was any information on Martin's condition.

She gave a small nod and a weak and insincere smile. "I'll be okay as soon as I find out if he's…going to be at work next week." She finished off unconvincingly. Danny gave a small knowing nod letting her know that he understood what she meant and left it alone.

Vivian walked over to them now. "They don't know anything yet," she announced answering Samantha's unasked question and sitting down on her other side. "How was he on the way over?"

Samantha took a deep breath before answering. "Well, he was okay at the beginning. I mean, he was unconscious but as we got closer he continued losing blood and they had to rush him in. His face was so white, it scared me. He looked…dead." Vivian put her arm around Sam and Danny held her hand.

"He's going to be alright," Danny said confidently. "I mean come on, when has Marty ever given up on anything. He's too damn persistent to just die now." The casual way he talked about Martin's potential condition made Sam laugh.

"Where's Jack?" she asked, finally noticing that he had not walked in with the other two.

"Oh, he had to do at least the primary report before he could come over. He said he'd be here in about an hour." Sam nodded wondering if she would have stayed to do a primary report if she was not involved with Martin. That thought scared her and made her feel like a horrible person. She knew that Martin had stayed with her after she had been beaten even though she was not seriously injured at all, just bruised pretty badly.

"Samantha Spade?" A man wearing a long white coat said as he walked around the corner. He was young and had a handsome face with curly brown hair.

All three stood up and she knew that she was probably squeezing Danny's had so hard that he would soon lose feeling in his fingers.

"That's me," Samantha said, her voice shaking violently. Vivian looked quizzically at Sam but she paid no attention. Her entire being was urging the doctor to tell her that Martin would be okay.

"Doctor Kincaid," he said holding out his hand to her. She shook it impatiently as she thought, _"I don't care who you are, just tell me he's going to be okay!"_

"Are you the wife? Or girlfriend perhaps?" he asked. She couldn't believe that he was making small talk when she was under the impression that Martin was in the room fighting for his life.

She shook her head and replied, "Um…no, just co-worker, close friend, you know." She tried to make her answer quick so that he would continue on with Martin's diagnosis.

"I see, well, Martin should be fine. He lost a lot of blood but the gun shot itself won't leave any lasting damage. He will need to do some physical therapy and I presume he will not be able to go out into the field for a few months until his shoulder has completely rebuilt itself."

"Is he awake now? Can we see him?" Vivian asked, clearly irritated with this doctor's informalities.

"Well, I can allow you to go into the room, but his consciousness is really the only complication we came across." Samantha thought that her heart had stopped. He wasn't okay, there was something wrong with him. "Martin seems to have experienced a very large and forceful hit on the head. He experienced a concussion and we cannot seem to wake him up. He is in a light form of a coma." At these words, Samantha's legs gave out and she had to sit back down. The tears were threatening to spill over again and she was relieved that the other two were still staring into the doctor's face. "I don't expect him to be in it for too much longer. His body is just recovering from extreme trauma. I believe he should be awake within a week. There will be no lasting brain damage luckily."

"Can I see him?" Samantha asked, shocking the other two. She had not spoken since the doctor had asked her about her relationship with Martin.

"Of course," Doctor Kincaid replied. "I'm not sure what good it will do, but you are free to stay with him as long as possible. We usually do not restrict people in the ER to visiting hours." He smiled at her but she didn't notice and had blocked out the rest of his answer.

"Viv, why don't we go home. We'll come and visit Marty tomorrow. I'll call Jack and let him know." Vivian nodded her head and Danny looked over at Sam. "You sure you don't want a ride home now?"

"No thanks, I'll call a cab later." She smiled gratefully at him and bid farewell to Vivian as she followed the doctor to Martin's room.

When they got to the proper room, Samantha simply stood in the door way. The doctor went in and began checking his vitals once more. She noticed that his face held more color and was thankful that he no longer looked like a corpse. In his right arm he was hooked up to an IV and the left arm was transferring more blood into his body. He looked so helpless, lying in the stark white bed. She usually liked to stay awake after he had fallen asleep and watch him as he breathed deeply. She didn't like this though. He still had the peaceful look but there were no signs of life except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She slowly made her way to his side. She touched his face tenderly and then held onto his hand. Doctor Kincaid pulled up a chair for her and she sat down her eyes once again unable to leave Martin's motionless face. She kissed his hand and merely nodded whenever the doctor notified her that he would be back within the hour to check his status.

Once he left, all inhibitions were gone and Samantha had nothing holding back the tears anymore.

**A/N-**Hope you liked it. It's a bit longer than I intended but I think it's pretty good. Yay! I love Martin and Samantha. He better not break up with her on the show. That look he gave her at the very end was a little unreadable, and it scared me.

Leave me a review and let me know what you think!


	3. Memories

**Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…**

**A/N-**I love Without a Trace and I love the fact that Samantha and Martin are together now. I have missed a lot of episodes throughout the show though so if I mess up some details just let me know in a review and I'll do my best to fix it.

**Chapter Two: Memories**

"I'm here to see a Mr. Martin Fitzgerald," Jack said to the nurse at the desk. She looked at the clock and then back to him with her right eyebrow raised. It read two AM and the waiting room had been empty for the last hour.

"The others who came to see him left three hours ago," she said matter-of-factly as she flipped through a few pages, searching for Martin's record. Jack pursed his lips and drummed his fingers on the counter impatiently. She pulled a sheet out of a huge pile of papers. "Mr. Fitzgerald is in room 212. That's down the hall, third room on the left."

He nodded his head at her and turned to his right. His footsteps echoed through the hall. He knew he should have gone home and visited Martin tomorrow but he knew it would look bad if the other three were there right after the accident and he didn't show up at all. He turned to walk into what he assumed would be an empty room but was halted in his tracks.

Samantha was asleep, her head resting lightly on Martin's stomach and her blonde hair was spread across his chest. Her hand was lying gently on his left and her breathing was synchronized with his.

At first Jack wasn't sure what to do. Should he wake her up or just let her be? She looked very peaceful, as well as extremely comfortable lying there. He resigned to walk over and touch her back. She stirred and then opened her eyes. It seemed as if she wasn't quite sure where she was but as soon as Jack's questioning face came into focus she shot up and looked around nervously.

"Guess I lost track of time," she said rubbing her eyes frantically and smoothing out her jacket. She blinked fast trying to get the sleep out of her eyes and truly hoped that she looked somewhat professional and that Jack would attribute the mascara underneath her eyes to the fact that she was sleeping and not that she had been crying.

"You and I both," Jack said with a smile as he sat down on the opposite side of the bed. He gave her a brief smile and then looked at Martin's unchanging face. When he turned back to her she was looking at Martin too, an unreadable concern upon her face. Or maybe he just didn't want to know what it meant.

She turned back to Jack and gave a small half smile and looked down. He leaned in closer to say something to her but stopped when he saw something he hadn't seen in a long time, tear stains. What was she crying for?

As if sensing his eyes on her she stood up and announced that she was going to the restroom to freshen up a bit. She turned and walked semi-graciously (considering the fact that she was half asleep at two AM) through the hallway. She walked calmly and slowly through the bathroom door and then leaned back against the wall and slid down slowly until her knees were up under her chin. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and onto her pants but she quickly got control of them.

She stood up and brushed of any dust as she walked over to a mirror. She wet her fingers under the faucet and wiped underneath her eyes. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror she had to laugh. Her skin was pale, her cheeks were tear-streaked, and her hair was a tangled mess and all because of some guy.

But he wasn't just _some guy_ and she knew it. Martin was something special. His friendship had meant more to her these last two and a half years than anything. And the way he cared about her meant even more.

There had always been a physical attraction between the two, even on his very first day. She had noticed him as he walked somewhat arrogantly and with a certain ease into the bullpen. She remembered having to suppress a smile whenever she realized that he was her knew co-worker. His smile immediately stood out to her.

Whenever they officially started "dating" it was pretty much lust, she knew it and wasn't afraid to deny it; at least, it had been for her. There was always something about the way he looked at her, even before that fateful taxi ride that made her uncomfortable. It was like he knew something she didn't, something she desperately wanted to know and ignore at the same time.

"I can't believe I'm turning into all of those girls that I've always pitied," she muttered under her breath as she ran her fingers through her hair in a failing attempt to tame her mane of blonde hair.

"It's not so bad," said a small voice in her head.

It may have been lust at first but it turned into something a lot more than that the longer and longer they were together. He amused her, made her laugh. He had always been able to make her laugh, that much was true, but his little quirks made her giggle. The whole "government-alien conspiracy" and "Mulder and Scully" incident seemed so hilarious to her. The fact that he knew all of that useless information was so out of character for him. He was so straight laced and well educated that it seemed absurd to her that he would know things about aliens and the X-Files.

He could make her laugh and that in itself was something special. Jack had made her smile, but Martin made her laugh. He filled her with a joy she had never felt before.

His Christmas getup got him a ceaseless teasing all through the holidays and not just from her. His uncle and cousins could not stop laughing at the Santa hat. He had indulged their joke and wore the hat the entire time they opened presents. She remembered the day of the party. Apparently he had been "full of Christmas spirit" as Danny had said later. She had been too preoccupied to notice.

That had been when she first realized, really understood that what she and Martin had was more than just a fling. Up until that point she had just entertained the idea that she was having a little fun and that she deserved a little happiness in her life. But that day, the day of Jack's divorce deposition, it seemed as though everything in her life was changing. She had been unable to get her mind off of Jack all day long. No matter where she turned it seemed as if Jack was there. One minute she's talking to Jack and the next she's running into and apologizing to Maria.

She was sitting in the party, trying to figure out the train wreck in her mind. Jack would be divorced soon, and free to date whomever he pleased. She was happy with Martin, but could it have been possible to be happier with Jack? Or was she tricking herself? It wouldn't have been the first time that she remembered being happier with him before realizing that she hadn't been.

But then she chanced a glance in Martin's direction. She wasn't sure what exactly had prompted her to do it. Perhaps it was the knowledge that she had barely recognized his existence the whole day, but whatever it was, she listened. She looked over at him as he was telling what she was sure was a very corny joke to two other agents who just wanted some punch. She gave a half hearted laugh at his hat with the badge clipped to the bottom. He looked like such an idiot but at that very moment, all thoughts of Jack and a future relationship with him left her mind. Jack Malone was absent from the thoughts in her head as she walked over to Martin.

She knew that she wasn't going to say those three precious words, it was too soon. She was afraid of them, afraid of how badly they could hurt. She did the best she could and Martin knew that, and although they were small in the big scheme of things, they were huge coming from her. He merely smiled at her, that smile that he reserved only for her. She smiled back and knew that from that moment on, Martin was the man in her life. It wasn't even until later that night, as she lay wrapped up in his arms on the couch watching old Christmas movies that she realized she hadn't thought of Jack since the party.

"Oh boy," she muttered, snapping herself back to reality. She smiled at her reflection and then turned to walk out of the door. It wasn't until she stepped out onto the cool tile that she realized she had taken her shoes off in the room and had been walking around barefoot.

"At least it's a hospital," she thought as she laughed at herself. She walked along the corridor, in much higher spirits than she had been in earlier. She usually felt that way after reminiscing about her relationship with Martin.

On her way back to Martin's room, she saw Jack exit and begin to walk towards her. He stopped and she could tell he would say something so she stopped as well.

"I'm just going to go home. There's not much use talking to him, he's a little out of it," he attempted to joke.

She smiled but didn't laugh.

"You should get going pretty soon. It's nearly three. We've had a long week." The concern in his voice was sincere but it went in one ear and out the other. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she thought of how to phrase her next statement without raising questions about her relationship with Martin.

"Well, actually, Danny and Viv were pretty worried and obviously I am," Samantha said the end of this with a small laugh which Jack did not return. "And I was thinking that one of us should be with him at all times, you know, in case he wakes up. That way one of us will always be here and can call the rest of the team." She nodded her head indicating that this should be a flawless plan.

"I don't know, Sam. With Martin being out, that already has us one agent short. It's probably not the best idea to always have one of the mobile ones here. I'm sure the hospital will call whenever he wakes up," Jack rationalized.

"No they won't. The only reason that doctor has come in as many times as he has is to hit on me. Most of the time he wasn't even checking on Martin," Samantha said, slightly outraged. Then she added, as almost a plea, "Please, Jack, I promise if a case comes in I'll come to work. But as long as there's nothing to do, can I just do this one thing?"

Something about the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes made Jack agree. She had to contain herself to keep from leaping for joy whenever he approved her idea. She bid him a goodnight and then walked back to Martin's room.

Jack watched her go and did not fail to notice the concerned stature her body took on the moment her eyes fell upon Martin's seemingly lifeless body.

**A/N**-I hope that was good enough for everyone. I wrote it in a bit of a rush and the beginning probably wasn't very good because I was in the process of watching Without a Trace while writing. Most of the writing was done during episodes I had already seen so hopefully it is okay.

I must say, that after watching the majority of the first season (I watch the third season but I just bought the DVDs) I am fully convinced that Samantha and Martin are totally meant to be together. I'm not sure that's what the writers are leaning towards but I definitely think that they should have Sam and Martin end up together. I don't care how much Jack/Sam/Martin triangle they put in as long as the final outcome is Sam/Martin. Just as long as they don't add Danny into the mix, I'll be happy. That would just be way too much drama.

Anyway, thanks for all of the great reviews. You guys are way better than the Harry Potter reviewers. Leave me some more okay? And I'll try to update some more soon. Hopefully before Lonestar airs but probably not likely. I have a break from school coming up so chances are that I'll get a lot of writing done then. Until next time, adios and leave a review!


	4. A Turn of Events

**Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…**

**A/N-**Okay, I bought Season One of Without a Trace and now I love all of the characters. Danny is so funny, Martin is funny and cute, Sam is so strong, Viv is just awesome all around, and Jack really knows what he's doing. I'm disappointed with the lack of S/M in "Lonestar" but I'm glad that everyone knows now. I can't wait to see "Uncle Danny" perfecting his "hook shot" with Sam and Martin's kids!

**Chapter Four: A Turn of Events**

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring._

Samantha sat up abruptly in bed and reached blindly for her phone. She blinked her eyes a few times until the caller ID came into focus. Instead of the screen reading "Jack" or "Vivian" as she expected, it was an unknown number. She furrowed her brow, wondering who would be calling her at four in the morning.

Then something clicked. The hospital.

"Hello," she said in a raspy voice. She knew that the caller on the other end of the line could tell that she had just woken up, but she didn't particularly care.

"Ms. Spade, this is Dr. Kincaid from the New York City ER," said a smooth but tired voice.

"Yes, is something the matter?" Samantha asked anxiously. She felt herself holding in a breath and could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

"No, not at all. I just wanted to call and let you know that Mr. Fitzgerald is conscious now and seems to be doing very well."

Samantha sighed with huge relief and had to exercise magnificent self-control to keep from breaking down and crying again. She paused for a minute to get control of her shaking voice.

"Could I…could I talk to him please?" she asked quietly.

Well, Mr. Fitzgerald is asleep right now but you're welcome to come down to the hospital and see him in person," Dr. Kincaid said and Samantha could practically hear his smile on the other end.

"I'll be right down. And…thank you," she said before hanging up. She immediately jumped out of bed and got dressed, not even bothering to shower. She ran outside and immediately regretted not grabbing a coat. It was freezing and the light drizzle and fierce wind was not helping. She hailed a cab and jumped in quickly giving the address of the hospital.

She was twitching anxiously all the way to the hospital and didn't yawn once despite the fact that she had only fallen asleep two hours earlier, the worry had kept her from being able to sleep soundly. It wasn't until they pulled up to the entrance that she was able to be completely still. She chose to ignore the squirming number her stomach was pulling on her.

She walked into the hospital and the longer she walked in the abandoned hallway, the faster she walked until she was in a full out run. The hall seemed unending but she credited that to her anxiousness to finally see Martin with his eyes open.

She burst into the ER waiting room where Dr. Kincaid was already waiting for her. He led her to Martin's room without a word. He was sitting up in his bed opening and closing his left fist with a wince on his face. She was speechless for a moment but soon enough Martin noticed the blonde standing in his doorway. His face went blank and he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

She smiled as silent tears streamed down her face and felt her heart flutter. She dropped her purse onto the ground and ran to his bedto throwher arms around him.

"Ouch, ouch, Sam, my shoulder," Martin said shifting uncomfortably underneath her.

"I'm sorry," Samantha said, abandoning all attempts to fight back her tears. She reached up her hand and began stroking his face. "You have…no idea how _happy_ I am to see you awake. I was so afraid…"

He shook his head and she began kissing him. First on his cheeks and forehead and then on his lips. They grew more and more passionate until finally Martin did his best to pull away (he had a hard time considering he head was pushed against the wall).

"Sam, why are you here?" he asked, afrosty bitein his tone. She tried to hide the hurt that she knew was apparent in her eyes.

"What do you mean? I've barely left your side since it happened. I told the receptionist to call me if anything happened between when I left and when I planned on coming back this morning." She tried to continue running her hands through his hair but he lifted his right hand up and brushed hers away.

"Really, is that so?" His tone was that of one interrogating a suspect he knew was lying. "Why would you waste your time here? I know you don't really care about me."

"Martin, that's not true!" Samantha shouted, not comprehending at all why Martin was speaking so irrationally.

"Oh really. All this time I've been asking myself why you're with me, but maybe the question I should really be asking is why am I with you? You clearlyaren't what I really want and you're not worth my time!" Martin was screaming by this point but Samantha didn't care. The tears had quickly turned from happiness to pain and confusion. Martin was looking at her with disgust in his eyes, something she had only seen whenever he turned his gaze upon a pedophile or a sex offender.

She turned around to leave and found that in the spot she had expected to be filled by Dr. Kincaid was now Jack Malone. She gasped and faltered which Jack took as a sign to speak freely.

"The hospital called me too. So now I know…about the two of you. How long?" Jack said. His eyes held a different emotion than Martin's; rather than disgust there was rage. "HOW LONG, SAMANTHA?" he bellowed.

"Eight months," she whispered. Her eyes had been downcast but when she said this she lifted her head and made defiant eye contact with Jack.

"I should have known. The second you realized I would be leaving you would need to find a replacement. I should have known you'd pick Martin, you…damn it Sam, how could you do this to me?" He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "Who's next? Danny? Are you going to move on to him now that you've been rejected by us both?"

She was horrified. This was her worst nightmare, it couldn't be coming true. Her tears had become an uncontrollable sob and her body was shaking violently. She looked back and forth between Martin and Jack, not wanting to believe her ears.

"Sam…" Martin was calling her name now. She tore her eyes away from the ground and looked over at him. "Samantha," he was saying. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. The disgust in his eyes was beginning to make her feel dirty and she didn't feel worthy of speaking to him. "SAM!" His voice was getting louder and she was beginning to shake more and more violently.

She opened her eyes and saw Danny's face hovering in front of her. He was shaking her gently in an attempt to wake her up. She was covered in cold sweat and leaning back in a chair in the corner of Martin's hospital room.

"Samantha, are you okay?" Danny asked with concern written all over his face.

She sat up warily and looked over at Martin who was lying, still unconscious, in his stark white bed. Her eyes were still shifting but her mind was starting to register the fact that it had only been a dream. It was the first time since Martin's accident that she had been happy to discover that he was still in a coma.

"Hey," Danny said. Her frightened and wandering eyes finally found their way to Danny's face. "You alright?" he asked patting her arm, "You're pale."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said standing up. Her knees were still a little weak but she wasn't about to show it. She caught her breath and knew that Danny was watching her as she paced back and forth in a small line, but was thankful that he didn't say anything.

"What time is it?" she asked, breaking the stuffy silence.

"9:30," he said, standing up as well and moving to her side. This stopped her pacing but it didn't slow her racing heart.

"In the morning?" she asked, voice dripping with a mixture of disbelief and awe. She had already stayed in this room the entire day after the shooting and couldn't believe that she was so pathetic that she wouldn't even leave the hospital for a day and a half.

"Yeah." Danny's gaze drifted from Martin to Samantha in one swift movement. He didn't reveal his thoughts to her but she knew that the wheels in his mind were turning slowly and quickly putting two and two together. "Listen, why don't you go home. I'll stay here and watch Marty sleep…" at this he smirked knowingly, a face that made Samantha want to laugh and hit him at the same time. "…and you can take a shower. You're really starting to smell." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Thanks. Maybe I'll take a shower and then go into the office. Jack will kill me if I miss any more work. Call me if…if anything changes," she said carefully.

And with one grateful look at Danny who was sitting down in the chair Samantha had just been sleeping in, she walked out to the front of the building, hailed a cab and headed home.

"Hey there, Marty," Danny said as soon as he was sure that Samantha was out of earshot. "Looks like you've got yourself one faithful co-worker." He knew he sounded ridiculous talking to an unconscious man, but he felt the need to say what he knew was on everyone's mind.

"Samantha must really be devoted to the team to skip out on a day at work and two nights to sit here and watch you breathe." He was flipping through the pages of a four month old magazine, skimming the pictures and skipping the articles. "If I didn't know any better I'd say she was falling for you. I mean, I know that you two are 'something'," he said with air quotes, "but I figured you were just sleeping together. I had no idea that she was in love with you."

Danny dropped the magazine and stared over at Martin who couldn't hear a thing and wasn't even aware of the fact that there was human life in the room with him.

"Yup, that's what I said, in love with you. She may not know it yet, but I do. You better love her too, because I swear, if you hurt her there will be hell to pay. But what am I worried about? You're Martin, there's a better chance of Samantha running off and marrying Jack than you ditching her. Still, just be careful."

Danny stopped his ridiculous antics now and proceeded to open the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and sat innocently, looking up every once in a while to make sure all was normal.

* * *

True to her word, Samantha only stopped by the apartment to shower and change clothes before running off to work. Upon entering she was hassled with hundreds of questions about how Martin was doing and when he would be back to work. She tried answering some but eventually gave up and slipped out of the mob and into the bullpen where only two people were bombarding her with questions about the wellbeing of their fellow agent.

"He's going to be fine, but he's still unconscious. Danny's with him now and he promised to call in case something happens," she said to Jack and Vivian with calm professionalism. She was very pleased to find out that she had maintained the ability to act like everything was fine whenever her mind was screaming. She was afraid she may have left that in the ambulance with the EMTs.

"That's good," Vivian said throwing Sam a reassuring smile. Samantha gave a half-hearted smile back before heading over to her desk. It was very unnatural but there had been no incoming cases since the shooting. She sat down in her chair and swiveled so that she was staring straight at the computer screen.

She had individual pictures of each of the members of the team posted on the board behind her computer, but she had strategically placed Martin's photo in a place that she made sure she could look at while pretending to stare at the computer screen. She knew it was very junior high, but couldn't help it. Jack's picture had been there the previous two years and it wasn't until after her undercover case that she allowed Martin's picture to replace it.

It was very boring in the office while there were no cases to solve and no victims to find. Jack and Vivian were in his office talking about Hannah, Kate, and Reggie. Normally Samantha would be chatting with Danny and Martin or doing some paperwork that she so often put off until the very last minute.

"_I am so exhausted," _Sam thought as she rested her head on the desk. _"I'll just rest my eyes for a minute."_

She wasn't sure how long she was asleep, but it was all too soon when she awoke to the gentle shakingfrom Jack. She jumped back, her heart racing when she opened her eyes and saw Jack's face a mere inches from hers.

"It seems as if you don't get quite the same pleasureout ofwaking up to me as you used to," he said with a significant smile. When she didn't reply he cleared his throat and then continued. "Look, nothing is going to come in, so why don't you just go home and get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

Sam nodded gratefully, afraid of offending him with her breath, which she found odd because she never even thought about what Martin might think if she had bad breath or food in her teeth. In fact, the times he told her she was the most beautiful was whenever she was in sweats, hadn't brushed her hair yet and was void of all makeup.

She shut off her computer, grabbed her bag and then stood up to head out of the door. She waved goodbye to Jack and Vivian and then turned and headed down the hallway. She had to fight to remain awake in the cab and her legs felt fifty pounds heavier as she trudged up the stairs at an unbelievably slow pace. She dug around in her purse for what seemed like hours in search of the keys she could never find as she leaned up against the door frame, her eyes half-closed. When she finally found it, she triumphantly shoved it into the lock and turned the door knob with thoughts only of the warmth and comfort of her bed.

She dropped her bag beside the couch and put her keys in a bowl on the counter at the bar. She looked around at the semi-messy apartment. Martin's shoes still lay underneath the coffee table where they had been a week ago. She would not allow him to put his muddy feet on top of her furniture so he always kicked them off andnudged them untidily under the table before propping his feet leisurely on top. She remembered that specific night. They were watching the New York and Milwaukee game that Martin had had spectacular tickets to on Sam's small 32 inch television. He hadn't made a big deal about it. In fact the only thing he said was that even if she didn't want to go to the game with him, he still wanted to watch it with her, Spike Lee or not. He had the biggest bowl she owned full of popcorn in his lap. She had been in the kitchen, cleaning up their Chinese take out when the game began.

"_Sam, get in here the game is starting!" Martin yelled at her from the couch. She smiled and then ran into the living room and jumped onto the cushion and right into him. This caused the popcorn bowl to topple over onto the ground spilling popcorn all over the sofa, the floor, and of course Martin._

_At first he just looked between her and the popcorn, mouth hanging wide open. She didn't say anything for a few seconds but then couldn't help but burst into laughter._

"_Oh, you think this is funny, do you?" Martin said with mock tones of seriousness. Samantha didn't reply but only proceeded to laugh harder. "Well, what do you think now?" he asked grabbing a handful of the popcorn in his lap and throwing it at her._

_She squealed and reached for her own handful but Martin was quicker. Before she knew it, they were having an all out popcorn fight, buttered kernels flying everywhere. They were both laughing. He shoved some into her mouth and she just smiled at him, mouth full of popcorn._

"_Aw, you're so cute!" he said pinching her full cheek. She nodded her head and then threw herself on top of him and began kissing him, mouth still full of popcorn. It didn't last very long because they were both still having fits of uncontrollable laughter. _

"_Delicious," he said. _

_They spent the entire first half of the game cleaning up and popping new bags of popcorn and as she lay in his arms that night, she couldn't help but think that their rendition of attending the basketball game was one hundred times better than any floor seats could have been._

She kicked off her shoes andthrew them into her bedroom, an action she knew she would regret the next time she wanted to wear them. She shrugged off her coat and hung it up in the coat closet in between Martin's running sweatshirt and his nice jacket.

"_I just can't escape him, can I?"_ she thought with a small smile as she took off her dress suit and slipped into her pajamas. She didn't want to go into the bathroom to wash off her make up because she knew that she would see his toothbrush, razor, and pile of clothes in the corner.

"_It's a good thing Jack, Danny and Vivian don't make a habit of dropping by. There's enough of Martin's stuff here for them to conclude that we're married, and have been for years."_

She thought back to the times she spent with Jack. They always stayed at her place because obviously they couldn't be together at his house. Very rarely would he stay the whole night, simply because he didn't want his wife to become suspicious. When he would, he would bring an overnight bag filled with one suit for the next day, a bag holding a toothbrush, a hairbrush, a razor, and some cologne. On those few occasions, he made sure that the next morning hehadn't left anything behind. They would comb her apartment three times each to make sure that nothing he owned was left at her place. She hated doing that. It always made her feel cheap; not that Jack sleeping with her and then leaving before midnight didn't, but this made her feel worse.

She and Martin had only been together for three weeks before his things were noticeably present. She loved coming home and seeing his possessions everywhere. But what she loved even more was going over to his apartment and seeing her things everywhere. Some of her chick flick movies were intermingled with all of Martin's favorite action movies. Her favorite sodas were stocked in the refrigerator, right next to his sub sandwiches. She had a few pairs of shoes along with pajamas, suits, and dresses placed neatly in his closet. Her toothbrush was on the sink and her feminine products were strategically hidden in the medicine cabinet. Her shampoo was in the shower, along with her bright pink razor and Peaches 'n Cream shaving gel. Martin had even let her bring over pictures of the two of them togetherto redecorate one of his bookcases. He told her that was it though, she wasn't allowed to mess with his "bachelor pad" until they moved in together.

She crawled into bed, and was thankfully too tired to miss Martin's presence at her side too much. She took a huge breath and let it go as she welcomed the much needed sleep on her body. She smiled into her pillow and felt herself quickly and easily fall into sleep.

Just before she could go completely to sleep, she heard her phone ringing in the living room.

She grunted as she kicked off her covers and ran into the living room.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said as she fumbled around in her purse in search of the vibrating phone. As her hand closed around it she thought to herself that it was definitely time to get a new purse.

"Hello," she said quickly flipping it open without looking at who was calling.

"Sam?" Danny's voice asked on the other end. She swore her heart stopped. Suddenly she was wide awake as she remembered that Danny said he would call if anything changed. It took her a moment to snap out of her reverie and find her voice but she quickly answered,

"Yeah, yeah it's me." Her voice sounded calm, something she attributed to the lack of all energy her body was experiencing at that moment.

"He's awake."

**A/N**-How do you like that? Hopefully it moved a little faster than my previous chapter. I hope everyone liked it. I hadn't planned on putting any memories in there. I kind of liked showing that Martin and Sam could actually have a playful side of their relationship. It was kind of cheesy and probably out of character for Sam, but you never know, Martin might bring out a side of Sam when their not at the office that she never lets show.

I really liked comparing her relationship with Jack (no proof that he and Sam were together) with her relationship with Martin (not wanting to hide) through the things they leave at each other's apartments. I thought that it really showed a side of Samantha that we don't really see. The side that actually wants to be in a functional relationship as well as showing some of the harder things she went through when sleeping with a married man.

Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews last chapter. They were awesome! I really love long reviews (although, I really love ANY review wink) so don't hesitate to say anything. Tell me what you love, what you hate, who your favorite character is…whatever, I don't really care! Thanks for reading!


	5. Awakenings

**Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…**

**A/N-**Ugh…do you know how much it sucks that the next new episode of Without a Trace doesn't come on for another two and a half weeks! It better be oozing Samantha/Martin stuff. By the way, the beginning of last chapter…the part where Martin and Jack are both yelling at Sam, that was a dream. Just wanted to clarify, some people seemed a little confused about that.

**Chapter Five: Awakenings**

Samantha's heart was suddenly beating very fast. That one simple phrase had set her world in motion. She was filled with a sudden euphoria and felt that for the first time since Martin had been shot she could properly breathe.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," she said, snapping her phone shut and jumping up. She ran to her closet and grabbed a pair of wind pants, a fitted t-shirt and a Knicks sweatshirt. She pulled on her tennis shoes and ran into the bathroom. She applied a small amount of make up quickly. She knew Martin wouldn't care how she looked, but that didn't dampen her girlish tendencies. She just spent enough time to make sure she didn't look half as tired as she felt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail with her bangs falling somewhat elegantly into her eyes. She gave her reflection a weak smile and then bolted out of the bathroom. She grabbed her bag and keys, locked the door and then raced down the hall to the elevator.

The cab ride seemed to last a lifetime. All of the buildings looked like an unending blur as she stared out of the backseat window. She watched as the meter spun slowly, her bill gradually getting higher and higher.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the cab slowed to a stop in front of the ER entrance. Samantha fished in her purse and pulled out a few bills to hand to the driver.

She walked as quickly as possible to Martins' room. The receptionist smiled at her as she rushed past and Samantha smiled back as she thought to herself,

"_I really need to get out more."_

She stopped outside of the room and listened as Martin and Danny talked. Martin sounded extremely tired but he was laughing. She walked into view of the room but neither guy noticed her. She watched as Danny tossed a baseball up in the air repetitively saying something about a girl he'd gone on a date with. Martin had a smile on his face. His left arm was in a sling and it was the first time Samantha had ever seen a burger and fries in Martin's immediate vicinity that he was not scarfing down.

She gave a small laugh when her thoughts were immediately contradicted because Martin reached out with his right hand and grabbed a few of the fries. Her sound caught his attention and he cut his sentence short as soon as his eyes fell upon her. He smiled that smile, the one that made her feel like she was floating. His eyes were sparkling despite the intense exhaustion and she knew that he had just completely forgotten that Danny was in the room, let alone that he had just been talking to him.

She couldn't help but smile back but for some reason she felt extremely shy. She bit her lower lip and walked into the room. She glanced over at Danny and gave a quiet hello before returning her gaze to Martin. She sat on his right but didn't say anything, too afraid that if she tried to open her mouth she would start to cry…again. She didn't want Martin to see her weakness.

Danny looked between the two who were simply staring at each other, completely engrossed in the others' silence. He smiled that all knowing smile and then stood up and cleared his throat. Samantha and Martin both snapped their heads over to look at him.

"I'm going to get some coffee, you guys want anything?"

Samantha appreciated his perceptiveness, although wishing he'd been a bit more subtle.

"No thanks," Martin said and Samantha merely nodded. Danny smiled and then walked out shaking his head.

Samantha swallowed the lump in her throat and lifted her hand to his forehead and began to stroke his hair. He was still smiling at her and she was so happy to be feeling the uncomfortable flutter in her stomach from it.

"Figures you'd wake up once I finally left," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, you know how I like to keep you guessing," he teased and she gave a feeble laugh. They could usually pull the small talk off but her emotions were running too wild at the moment. She could feel the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes and was desperately trying to blink them back.

"I'm so…you have no idea…I thought you were," she said, unable to finish any of her sentences but he understood her meaning. His eyes penetrated hers and she could see his concern for her. Imagine, he was in the hospital bed, arm in a sling, recently awaken from a coma and he was concerned about her.

"It's okay, Sam. I'm okay. You didn't think you could really get rid of me that easily," he said trying to lighten her mood. She didn't smile this time but locked eyes with him.

"Don't even joke about that. Even when they said that you were going to be okay, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was going to lose you." She ran her fingers through his soft brown hair, eyes closed. "You just, you don't even know how _relieved_ I am to see you right now. Just to see you breathing; hearing your voice, it makes me happier than I've been in the last week." She dropped her hand down and gazed at her hands in her lap. "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered.

This time he raised his right hand up to her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "Hey," he said so that she would look at him, "I'm not going anywhere." She smiled despite her feeling of vulnerability and felt a single tear roll down her cheek. "Come here," he said gesturing to her with his head.

She leaned in slowly and closed her eyes in preparation for the kiss she was about to receive when Danny's voice entered the room once more.

"Hey, guys…whoa, sorry to interrupt…" he said gazing at the two from the doorway. Their faces were a mere inch from each other and they were both glaring at Danny. "Um…Jack and Viv are in the hallway on their way in here."

Sam immediately sat up straight and pushed her chair a little further away from Martin's bed. He continued to look at her a hint of hurt in his eyes, but he looked away and thanked Danny for the warning. Danny nodded, but looked at the two, amazed by the way Samantha's wall had gone up the second she heard Jack's name.

Once Jack and Vivian came in, Martin was all smiles again and Samantha was doing her best to stay awake although Danny did not fail to notice all of the stolen glances between Samantha and Martin every time her stubborn ploy to stay at Martin's side was mentioned.

Samantha desperately wanted to be the last one to leave so that she could talk to Martin alone, but with every passing minute her eyelids felt heavier and heavier and she began to grow incrementally more tired. Just about the time she thought her wish was going to come true as Vivian said that she needed to get home to Reggie and Danny said he had to go and get ready for another date, Dr. Kincaid walked in.

Samantha rolled her eyes and prayed that he wouldn't start hitting on her in front of Martin. He shook hands with Jack, Danny, Viv, and Martin before grasping Samantha's hand and giving her a simultaneous wink and squeeze. She gave him a disbelieving look and Danny smirked behind her. Martin had a confused look on his face but didn't bother asking about it.

"Well, I'd like to keep you here tonight for observation," Dr. Kincaid said addressing Martin, "just to make sure that your condition is stable and if all goes well you should be released at noon tomorrow." He threw a smile in Martin's direction before his eyes fell upon Samantha again. She shook her head and then sat back down in her seat. She stifled a laugh at the increasingly confused look on Martin's face as Dr. Kincaid left the room.

Danny stood up and pulled Vivian up next to him. He clapped Martin on the back and said that he would see him later. Vivian said goodbye to the other three and then the two of them walked out of the door. Jack, Samantha, and Martin sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Samantha couldn't help noticing that Martin was staring at her. She refused to make eye contact with him but felt a smile creeping up on the corners of her mouth.

She yawned widely and leaned back in her chair, knowing that she needed to go home. Jack smiled at her as she yawned again.

"Sam, did you get any sleep once you went home?" he asked, somewhat amused. He was looking at her oddly, in a way she hadn't seen in over a year. She shook her head with a small smile and Jack laughed. She glanced over at Martin, Jack's gaze making her highly uneasy.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Martin asked her, eyebrows raised. She knew what he was thinking. When she had been in the hospital and undercover, he had gotten extra sleep, but he falls unconscious and she doesn't sleep at all.

"Samantha's been here the whole time. She came to work this morning and fell asleep at her desk, so I sent her home. I assume that's about that time Danny called," Jack explained very businesslike. She was glad Jack had said it because she knew that Martin would be less skeptical hearing it from his boss. They shared a quick look before she looked away blushing. She could see Martin smiling knowingly out of the corner of her eye.

She still wanted to talk to him alone, but exhaustion was beginning to get the better of her and she wasn't sure if Jack would ever leave. Her eyelids drooped and she had to blink multiple times to keep the room in focus.

She yawned once more before standing up and announcing her plan to depart. She could see the disappointment behind Martin's eyes but just couldn't bring herself to wait the extra hour or two that Jack would be there.

"Yeah, I need to go, too," Jack said standing up as well.

"_Figures,"_ Sam thought bitterly. _"You would decide to leave right after I do!"_

They began to walk out of Martin's room, uttering a few polite farewells. As Martin began to settle down into his bed to prepare for some much needed sleep Jack walked out of the room and Samantha turned around and said,

"I'm glad you're feeling better. I'll see you at work Monday." She said this very loudly to make sure that Jack heard her before she mouthed, "Call me tomorrow," and walked out. Martin couldn't help but be amused at this. Usually her struggles to keep them a secret made him angry or upset but every once in a while she would do something ridiculous or over the top that made him smile. He wiggled a little until he was in that comfortable mix between sitting up and lying down, leaned his head to the side, closed his eyes and welcomed the inevitable and uneventful sleep.

Samantha and Jack walked silently, side by side through the hallways of the hospital and out into the lobby where Sam picked up a phone to call for a cab. She waved goodbye to Jack but as he was walking out of the doors, he turned abruptly and strolled up to where she stood propped up on the counter.

"Listen, I have something really important I need to talk to you about. Can you meet me for brunch tomorrow?"

Samantha stuttered out a few "uhs" and "ums" but her mind was drawing a blank in the excuses department. Jack's penetrating eyes were locked on her so tightly that all she could do was nod. He smiled and she told him to call her in the morning when he was ready.

He smiled once more before walking out of the hospital without another look back.

Had he looked back, perhaps he would have seen Sam hang up the phone and hurry back in the direction of Martin's room. He would have seen the exasperated face she put on after agreeing to a brunch. Maybe he even would have seen the way she desperately wanted to see Martin despite the fact that her body was about to hit total and complete meltdown level. But he didn't as he strolled smugly towards his black vehicle parked in the back of the lot.

The receptionist gave Samantha an odd look indeed as she walked past her desk for the fourth time that day. She smiled guiltily but hurried back down the hall and into Martin's doorway.

He mouth was open as she was preparing to apologize for leaving but was quickly silenced. He was asleep. His head was lying in what was probably a very uncomfortable position and his mouth was slightly open. She smiled and knew she would be content to watch him for hours if she had the energy. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted though.

"So, Samantha, how about lunch tomorrow," came the cool, smooth voice of Dr. Kincaid.

She looked at him incredulously before replying with a blunt and overzealous "No!"

Her tone clearly didn't convince him so he continued with his idiotic interrogation. "Why not?"

She shook her head in disbelief and turned to look at Martin once more. A small smile crept onto her face as she watched his slow and steady breathing. All of the worries of the past few days seemed to melt away. It was the same room, the same man lying unconscious of his surroundings in a white bed but she felt completely different. Her heart had been fifty pounds lighter ever since that fateful phone call.

"I see," Dr. Kincaid said as he looked from Samantha to Martin with an all-knowing look. "You're in love with him." It wasn't a question and it served to quickly and efficiently snap Samantha out of her trance. Had she been drinking something at the time she would have spit it all over the floor in front of her. She ripped her eyes away from Martin's face and looked at the handsome doctor next to her. Her eyes were huge and she knew that there was an undeniable fear in them and she could only hope that the surprise and shock was covering it up.

"No…no I'm not," she said in what she hoped was a convincing tone. She swallowed hard and could not bring herself to look back into Martin's room. Dr. Kincaid gave a small laugh and shook his head. He looked into the room and took a deep breath.

"Samantha, I work here, day in and day out and whenever people come in, they are in the worst of situations. It's amazing the things you see and not just from the patients but from their family and friends. From giving good news to giving the worst kind of news…" at this point he looked back at Samantha, "…I've seen every kind of reaction and emotion and based on the way you look whenever you are in his room or even hearing his name, I'd say you are more in love with him than most people I see." He had a small smile on his face now, one of deep understanding.

"You're…I don't…you don't know what you're talking about," she finally spat out. "Thank you very much for all of your good work," she said shaking his hand. "Make sure he doesn't die during the night and I hope to never see you again." Then she turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway for the last time.

Dr. Kincaid merely chuckled and clicked his pen as hewalked into Martin's room, muttering "typical" under his breath.

No matter how hard Samantha tried, she could not get Dr. Kincaid's statements out of her head. She walked into her apartment and kicked off her shoes. She walked slowly into her bedroom, a pensive look about her. She didn't bother changing back into her sleeping clothes or taking her make up off. She crawled into bed, but despite the extreme fatigue she was experiencing, sleep would not come. His words were rattling around in her brain. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Martin's face and the words "You're in love with him" blared in her ears.

"I don't love him," she muttered and rolled over to her other side. She kept having to reply every annoying and frustrating thing Martin had ever done like a slideshow to convince herself of that. She had to ignore the fact that quite a few of them had to repeated numerous times so that she didn't run out of material but she finally convinced herself enough to settle her mind and she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Jack's phone call came way too early the next morning. She heard the familiar tone across her apartment at eight in the morning. She practically fell out of bed before gaining her footing and trudging across the carpeted floor. Her legs felt heavier than they had the night before and she could barely force her eyes to remain open. She tried to remember where she had dropped her bag the previous evening and remembered one ring too late. She wasn't entirely too disappointed at the prospect of missing Jack's call and even considered going back to bed before the sound of her house phone ring filled the empty apartment.

She made a growling noise out of pure frustration but managed to sound somewhat cheerful when she picked up the phone. She and Jack made plans to meet at a pancake house fifteen minutes from her apartment at eleven. She poured herself a cup of coffee hating the fact that she was too awake by this point to fall back into bed for another hour. She walked out onto her small patio where she and Martin often spent rainy mornings together, drinking coffee and reading the paper. On weekends they would stay out there for hours just talking and watching the rain. For a while she had been uncomfortable with this routine, feeling like it was too permanent. Drinking coffee, reading the paper, and watching the rain in your pajamas seemedfar too husband and wife to her. But she found that the longer they were together, the more she looked forward to those mornings. His presence was soothing and the permanence that she had once hated so much now gave her a sense of security.

She sighed as she finished off her drink and went inside. She went for a run through the streets around her apartment complex, carefully thinking about what she needed to do today. The cool, crisp air felt good on her face and was sufficient enough to wake her up all the way. This was her favorite time of morning. She liked watching the couples walking their pets and the children running around while parents screamed at them to look both ways before crossing the street.

As she made her way back around the block and up the steps to the front of her building, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to actually have a family, a real family. With a loving husband and a couple of kids running around. She tried not to paint a picture in her mind because if she saw Martin as the husband, it would only make it ten times harder to fall asleep every night.

She jumped into the shower and scrubbed her skin free of the pollution and sweat she had just infused into her body. She spent a good hour fixing her hair and making sure to look good. It took her even longer to pick out something to wear. She finally settled on a pair of jeans and a pinstriped button up shirt. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, satisfied with what she saw and headed out of the door at 10:30.

She jumped on the subway and got off one stop early, not wanting to waste the wonderful day. The sun was out and the temperature was comfortable, a very rare thing for New York in the early spring. She walked quietly to the pancake house and was still ten minutes early, very much like her. She decided to wait for Jack before going inside so she sat on a wooden bench outside the doors and watched the people walk by. There was a park directly across from the restaurant, a place that she and Martin frequented.

Sometimes on Saturday mornings they would run down here and then walk around the perimeter while eating ice cream. This was the first place he had actually held her hand. It was a weird feeling. He had grabbed her hand which was covered in sticky chocolate ice cream but he didn't let go. She had blushed and felt instantly ridiculous because of it. She felt stupid for being so shy about letting him hold her hand because they'd been sleeping together for over two weeks. It was casual and comfortable and Samantha just couldn't help but think about how perfectly her hand fit into his. As she thought back on it, she realized that the fact that it was a loving gesture and something that everyone could see and would know that they were together was probably the reason it made her so giddy.

Once they had packed a picnic and brought it with them and sat at one of the wooden picnic tables. They had packed the most delicious looking sub sandwiches with all kinds of meat and vegetables, had a bag full of Martin's favorite chips and strawberries and Cool Whip. Of course, it was a very windy day so the second Martin pulled out the paper plates and napkins they went flying every which way. They spent ten minutes chasing them down and had decided just to eat with their hands once they finally found them stuck in a puddle of mud. By the time they finally got back to the actual picnic all of the food was covered with ants. Martin was disappointed but Samantha only laughed and they had walked across the street and eaten lunch at the pancake house.

It was one of their favorite places to go on Saturdays. They could go to sleep in the shade of a tree, read on one of the many benches, go for a nice run, or if they were feeling particularly playful, push each other on the swings. They didn't do that too often though because they would usually get some very strange looks from parents and kids alike. Samantha also felt comfortable there because it was largely populated and she didn't know Danny, Viv, or Jack to enjoy pancake houses or parks.

"You're early," Jack said, snapping Samantha out of her daydream. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, something that was very out of the ordinary for him. It had been so long since she had seen him outside of work for any reason that she almost didn't recognize him at first.

"I'm always early, you know that," she said, smiling. They walked in, Samantha feeling awkward the whole time. There were small things like Jack holding the door open for her or him ordering a table for two that took her back to good times that she had had with him. Of course, they would never be in a place so close to his kids' school and never during the day. It had been a rule. They were only allowed to go out for dinner because that's when he knew Maria had to be home to take care of the girls.

They sat in the center of the restaurant, something else that never could have happened. They always sat in dark corners and near the restroom so that if someone they knew walked in, one or both of them could get up discreetly and hide until they could sneak out. She liked this much better. They went on with some pointless chatter, talking about work for only a few minutes and then talking about his girls for a little while. Jack asked her about her life and she made up some fantastic lies about going out with some guy she knew in high school and then their horrific break up. Jack hinted about Martin and her insistence to stay with him but she was saved when an old college buddy of Jack's came up and said hello. She sighed a huge sigh of relief whenever Jack's attention was geared away from her erratic behavior over the past few days.

When the check came Jack grabbed it and insisted on paying for them both, another action that made Samantha stir in her seat. When the waitress took his credit card to go scan it Jack reached out for her hands.

She gave him an uncertain look but he ignored it.

"Samantha, I have something very important I need to talk to you about," he said. She looked at him and the seriousness of what he was about to say was all over his face. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes anymore and forced them downward towards their hands.

She remembered her memory earlier of the first time Martin held her hand. She remembered thinking that despite his vanilla intermingling with her chocolate, his hands were very soft. It was the perfect size, just a bit larger than hers and surprisingly gentle for someone who handled guns everyday.

Jack's hands were rough, calloused, and gigantic compared to hers. The wedding ring that she used to despise was now absent and she couldn't care less. She couldn't help but think about how ironic it was that the one thing she wanted gone for so long finally was and now she didn't care that it wasn't.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now and it really hit me whenever Martin…" Jack was saying. Samantha realized that she was supposed to be listening to him and glanced up but as she did the face of her watch caught the sunlight and winked at her. She looked down at it. It read 12:00.

She immediately pulled her hands from his grasp and stood up, grabbing her purse as she did so. Jack stopped talking mid-sentence and Samantha pulled out a few bills from her wallet.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but there's somewhere I have to be. Can this wait until later?" She didn't wait for an answer, thanked him for lunch and then hurried out of the restaurant. She ran to the nearest Subway station and jumped on the train. Jack was left with nothing but a ten dollar bill, half eaten French toast and an empty chair.

* * *

Martin walked into the lobby of his apartment building, smiling as the doorman asked if he had been "staying with Miss Samantha for a while" and then questioning him about the sling that his left arm was in. He told him the long and short of it, that he hadn't been staying with Sam but that he'd actually been shot. After a welcome back he smiled and walked to the elevators. He punched the number six and dug around in his pocket for his keys. 

His neighbors were waiting for the elevator that he got out of and smiled at him as he told the story once again of being shot.

"Good to have you back, Marty," Bryan Jacobsen had said as the elevator doors closed. He walked down the hall a ways to number 624. He slid the key into the lock and jiggled the handle around a little. He made a mental note to call maintenance for the seventh time to get them to fix the lock on his door.

He walked in, only the deafening quiet to greet him. He sighed as he dropped his keys into the bowl on the table next to the door. The lights were all off and his dirty dishes were still in the sink. He knew that he should call Samantha like she had asked him to, but he was a little disappointed. He knew that it was ridiculous for him to expect her to be at the hospital when he was released. He knew that she wouldn't be there; he hadn't asked her to be there so she had no idea that he wanted her to, but he had still hoped.

"What did you expect Martin, a welcome home party?" he mumbled. He draped his jacket over the back of the couch right next to Samantha's which he assumed was there from the last night they had spent in his apartment.

"I don't know if I qualify as a party, but hopefully I'll do," Samantha said as she walked out of his bedroom. He turned around, shocked to hear her voice but pleased all the same. He smiled at her and she walked over to him and finally kissed him, something she'd been longing to do since walking into his room the previous night.

"Welcome home," she said briefly before he pulled her into another kiss.

**A/N-**This is the second to last chapter. There is one more. I hope you liked this. If you do, you can thank Muzzy-Olorea for forcing me to update today. She laid the guilt trip on me. I'm really happy Martin is awake. He is one of my favorite characters (along with Danny, Sam, Viv, and Jack-well, sometimes Jack!)

Can't wait for Transitions! I can't believe we have to wait another 1.5 weeks, that sucks so much. Stupid NCAA tournament, why can't they air that on NBC? Oh well. I assume that the last chapter will be up by the end of the week. Hey, I have to have something to occupy the time I spend counting down the days to the next episode!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed me on the last chapter. You all left such wonderful reviews and I really appreciate it. It's really nice to know that people like what you spend so much time doing (time I might add that should be spent doing something else—like passing my classes for instance) So, if you don't mind leaving another one, that would be great!

PS-I have a Without a Trace livejournal if you want to check it out. Check out my bio for the address.


	6. Do You Love Him?

**Disclaimer: I in no way own the characters or ideas from Without a Trace...but it would be so cool. Samantha and Martin would already be married and "Uncle Danny" would be shooting hoops with the kids! **

**A/N-**Alright, I know it's been a while but I think it was worth the wait…hopefully you agree with me. I hope the ending doesn't sound too rushed! Enjoy!

**Chapter Six: Do You Love Him? **

Samantha lay awake as she rested on her right side, staring at the alarm clock by Martin's bed. It read 2:57 AM, an unbelievable time considering they had come to bed at 10:45. She was warm in her silk Valentine's pajamas. Martin had bought them for her as a gag gift before handing her the real gift, 24 karat diamond earrings. They were simple earrings that she would wear to work without drawing any attention to herself. He said she could wear them and think about him while he's out in the field getting shot at (a statement that had then made her laugh and now made her cringe).

There were small slits of light filtering in through the window. Although Martin had the blinds down, nothing could keep out the lights of the city. She tried to close her eyes and fall asleep but the light was too bright. She slowly rolled over so that she was now facing Martin rather than the window.

He was lying on his right side, his left arm draped carefully into place over the natural curve of his body. Every time he moved he would wake up because of the gunshot wound. After taking the prescribed painkiller (after many hours of Sam's nagging) he had fallen asleep.

She looked up into his face. His mouth was open and she couldn't help thinking that she would take his loud, heavy breathing over the utter silence that had filled her apartment any day. She had started home around ten that evening and made it halfway to her apartment before turning around and running back to Martin's. He had seemed surprised but pleased to see her in his doorway. She told him that she remembered how hard it was getting around after she'd been shot and wanted to make sure he was adjusting all right, which in essence was true. She left out the part about how lonely she had been and how much she had wished Jack had stayed with her. She didn't want Martin to feel the same way.

She put a hand gently on his bare chest, happy to have him next to her again. She smiled to herself and withdrew her hand and placed it instead under her head but continued looking up into his face.

As if sensing her eyes, the corners of his mouth twitched into a tired grin. His eyes slowly opened and it was then that she noticed his heavy breathing had stopped. She smiled guiltily at him while secretly loving the way his blue eyes peered over at her.

"Do you know how hard it is to sleep with you staring at me all the time," he said a smile in his tired and raspy voice.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

He smiled at her and rolled onto his back, the smile replaced with a grimace. She moved over closer to him and rested her head on his right shoulder and draped her arm over his middle. He smiled again and moved his arm down so that her body was cradled in his arm.

"I've missed you," she said closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest. She moved steadily up and down with him as his breathing slowed. He kissed the top of her head and although she couldn't see it, she knew he was smiling into her hair.

"Well, I can't remember, but I'm sure I missed you too," he said. She gave a small laugh and hit him playfully on the stomach. "I'm glad you're here though," he added quietly. It was at this point that she was very happy Martin couldn't see her face. She blushed deeply; knowing her cheeks would be a deep crimson.

_"What is wrong with me?"_ she thought. _"He's said that to me tons of times and it's never made me blush before."_ Suddenly, Dr. Kincaid's words flooded her mind_. "No, that's definitely not it," _she thought with vehemence.

"What are you thinking about?" Martin asked with a gentle squeeze after her few moments of silence. She obviously didn't want to tell him what she was really thinking so she quickly pulled something else out of her mind to tell him about.

She rolled onto her stomach and rested her chin on her fist so that they were making eye contact. He lifted his right hand up and brushed some strands of blonde hair out of her eyes. She smiled into his palm.

"You know how you wanted a welcome home party?" she said as a wide smile threatened to overtake her face as a look of horror spread across his.

"What did you do?" he asked pulling her body towards him.

"Well, I called Danny while you were taking a shower...and we're having a party for you on Monday," she said in a sing-song voice, her sentence broken up by fits of laughter.

"Sam," Martin said in a mock-whiny voice. She laughed and leant down to kiss him. "Why?" he said when she pulled back. She grinned at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You asked for it!" He gave a sarcastic laugh and then kissed her again. She felt content to sit there talking to him the rest of the night, but his giant yawns and heavy eyelids gave away his exhaustion. So, she kissed the tip of his nose and said goodnight. She fell into a pleasant sleep on his chest, a small smile present on her slender face.

They woke up the next morning still in each other's arms. Martin spent the better part of the morning on the phone with his parents. He numerously repeated that he was fine while his mother was on the other end. When it was his father, the conversation was restricted to facts about the case. He hung up the phone and looked over at Samantha (who was pretending she hadn't been looking at him from behind the Sports page).

"Good talk?" she asked even though she already knew the answer. She sipped her coffee as he came to sit next to her. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple and slowly shook his head left and right.

"Come on," she said patting his knee and standing up. "Let's do something." She pulled hum up and towards the door.

"Where are we going?" he asked suspiciously, for Samantha was not usually a very spontaneous person, especially when it came to the two of them being in public.

"You feel like Chinese?" she asked as Martin pulled on his running shoes.

"Sure, I guess," he said, still very suspicious of this impulsive Samantha.

"Then we're going to P.F. Changs," she stated grabbing his keys and opening the door. She propped it open; piercing Martin with an anticipatory stare as he slowly tied his shoes. He eyed her warily as he stood up and reached for his jacket.

They walked hand-in-hand down the street. He had again been surprised when the morning doorman asked if he should call a cab for them and Samantha shook her head. It was a good five miles to the restaurant.

It felt good to be walking and talking to her with the warm sunlight beating down on them. A gently breeze played with Sam's hair and continually blew it into her face. That is until she got too frustrated and pulled it into a ponytail at the base of her neck.

_They had done this once before, but in an extremely different circumstance. They were in his uncle's house the day after his Aunt Bonnie's funeral. He had tried so hard the previous day to keep from crying in front of Sam. It made him feel weak, but in the memorial service he broke down and couldn't hold them back anymore. _

_His dad was at the funeral and for the first time since he and Samantha had started dating, he was the one hiding their relationship. She told everyone that she was there because she'd been on the case with Martin as well as for moral support. Of course, Martin's cousins and uncle knew differently because the two of them had visited multiple times. _

_But when he started crying, Samantha cradled him and blew her cover, something Mr. Fitzgerald did not miss. _

_So, on top of the trauma of his aunt's death, Martin had to endure unending lecture after unending lecture about dating a co-worker and about how detrimental it could be to his career. Martin put up with it fairly well the whole night and didn't even flinch when his father continued badgering him during breakfast the next morning. _

_It wasn't until Mr. Fitzgerald began attacking Samantha that Martin fought back. _

_"Do you have any idea what kind of a girl she is? She slept with Jack Malone! When he was married! And had two kids!" he shouted. "That is not the type of girl I raised you to be with." _

_For the first time that weekend, Martin felt alive; granted, he was alive with murderous anger, but it led him to a reaction he hadn't expected. _

_"Take it back!" he shouted while simultaneously using all of his will power to keep from lunging at his father. "I don't care how much you dig into me about this, but leave Samantha out of it." _

_"She's a slut, Martin. Don't you see what she's doing? First, she slept with Jack, the supervisor, until you came along, the son of a powerful man in Washington..." Martin was red in the face and practically radiating anger. He was clenching his fists and grinding his teeth. "You can't honestly think she's good enough for you." At this point his father reached out and put a hand on Martin's shoulder. _

_Martin pushed his father back away from him with such a force that he fell backwards onto the sofa. He didn't trust himself to go any nearer to his father without hitting him so he backed away slowly, taking in deep breaths in a failing attempt to calm down. _

_"No, dad, I don't deserve her." _

_Then he tore from the room and ran into the adjacent kitchen, where Sam sat at the table, staring at her hands. Martin knew she had heard everything but was still too angry to console her. Instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the back door, saying, "Let's go," as they walked out. _

_At first they had simply walked side by side, completely silent, neither one knowing where to start. _

_Martin received quite a few, "Hey Marty" and Sam got an equal number of smiles and nods. Finally, Martin broke the increasingly awkward silence. _

_"I'm sorry you heard that. I mean, I always knew my dad was an ass, but I never thought he would attack you like that." Samantha shook her head and bit her lower lip. _

_"It's not your fault. I mean, your father is entitled to his own opinion, it's not the first time I've been called something like that," she said looking over at him. He still looked furious, angrier than she had ever seen him and that was saying something. _

_"That doesn't mean he should say it, especially since it isn't true." She gave him a weak smile and took his hand. _

_"Well, he was right about one thing," she said looking down at their hands interwoven together. She could feel his angry eyes burning into her forehead. "I don't deserve someone as amazing as you." She said it all slowly and lifted her eyes to meet his softened ones. He shook his head and lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly before dropping their hands back down. _

_It was that evening, during their casual walk around his favorite neighborhood that Martin realized he was in love with Samantha. He wanted to tell her right then but knew that all progress that had been made would be lost. She would run faster than a speeding bullet away from him. She would close up like a clam and sooner than he could blink she would be throwing him to the curb. _

_They walked around that little neighborhood hand-in-hand until dusk when they set back out for his uncle's house. His dad glared at him but didn't say anything and his mother looked anxiously between the two. _

_Martin and his father had never really made up. They talked when it was necessary but usually messages were relayed through his mother. Any time they were forced to speak face to face his father would always ask "how _she_ is." Samantha would always make defiant eye contact with him when he would visit the New York office but would steer clear of Martin's apartment. In fact, only once since the funeral had she met with him in an informal setting. _

_It was Christmas, and Samantha not having much of a family to go home to, spent her time off with Martin. She denied all of her defiant tendencies and managed to keep their relationship very low key. The only physical contact made was a hug after a few breathtaking gifts. She also went home at 10:30 both nights and came over the next morning. Martin said that his father didn't say anything about them, but she knew he was lying to protect her feelings. She could tell by the intensified tension between the two on the second day. _

They sat down in a cozy booth near the kitchen. As usual, Samantha sat down on the side that gave her a clear view of the door and each guest entering. Martin bit his tongue, not wanting to start fighting the second day he was out of the hospital.

He ordered the same thing he always did, sweet and sour chicken with an extra eggroll. Samantha grinned at his predictability. She could usually pin him to a tee. She knew what he would order at every restaurant they frequented, what time he woke up on the weekends, what kind of coffee he would order from Starbucks on Mondays, and where he liked to sit on the couch when the Knicks were playing. Sam could predict his every move, especially when it came to his stomach or sports. In fact, the only things about him that eluded her were the things that had to do with the two of them.

They talked comfortably for a while about basketball and how one of these days they should try a picnic in the park again. Samantha suggested visiting his uncle and cousins some time soon, an idea that he was very open to. But soon conversation shifted to the case.

"Danny relieved me the second day and instead of going home to sleep, I went into work. I did the write up of the shooting, which I'm sure is going to get me into trouble, and then fell asleep…"

"Wait, why are you going to get into trouble?" Marin interrupted. It suddenly dawned on Sam that Martin was unconscious and didn't see her freak out.

"Oh, it's pretty embarrassing actually," she said, reddening a bit. "Um, well you got shot and I…well I started screaming and tried to run towards you…highly unprofessional…" Martin looked shocked but his eyes were full of worry.

"What'd the shooter do? Did he come at you?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't really notice." She blushed even more now. "Danny grabbed me and by that time Jack and Viv were moving in with S.W.A.T. which is probably a good thing, Jack would've known something was up if he'd seen me. I'm surprised he's not asking already considering how I flipped out."

"God forbid _Jack_ knows something's going on between you and me. Good thing he didn't see!" Martin said sarcastically, leaning back in his seat.

"Martin, let's not start this now," Sam pleaded.

"Fine," he said looking for their waiter to get the check.

"Martin…" Sam said.

"No, it's fine, just forget it."

"Fine." Samantha threw her napkin onto the table angrily and became very interested in her fingernails as Martin paid. She didn't look at him again until he said, "Let's go." They took a cab back to Martin's apartments and sat as far away from each other as possible in the tiny back seat. She paid the cab driver and they headed inside, ignoring the "Afternoon Mr. Fitzgerald, Miss Samantha," and headed straight to the elevator. They briefly brushed hands as both attempted to punch the number six and Sam quickly drew her hand back and moved simultaneously toward the opposite side of the elevator. They stopped at the third floor and four other rather large people crammed into the already tiny space, each chatting animatedly and gesturing wildly with their hands.

Samantha and Martin pushed through when they stopped at the sixth floor. They walked silently to number 624. When he opened the door for her, she made a beeline for the bedroom, furious that in the midst of an argument he still acted like a gentleman. She picked up her clothes and pajamas from the previous day and walked back into the living room where Martin stood, a bottle of water in his hand.

"See you tomorrow," she said coldly, making it clear to him that she didn't want to be called or visited later that evening.

"Fine, see you at the party," he said, an equal amount of frostiness in his voice though if she'd been looking at him she would have seen his broken stance and frustrated eyes. She slammed the door behind her causing the table next to it to tremble and knock the bowl full of his change and keys onto the floor. Martin dropped his water bottle and ran to the door plotting to grab Sam and make her sit down and talk this out, but he stopped with his hand on the half turned door knob. He didn't know what made him stop; perhaps he was afraid of her real reason for not wanting to tell anyone or maybe because there were pennies all over the floor and the uncapped water bottle was spilling its contents all over his carpet. Eventually he let go of the doorknob and leaned backwards against the door, hoping against hope that this problem would resolve itself soon.

Little did he know that at the exact same moment Samantha was leaning against the door wondering whether or not she should go in and apologize for her outrageous behavior. The key in her right hand was an inch from the lock but she couldn't will it to go into it and turn.

She heard a door open to her left, one of Martin's neighbors was leaving her apartment. She turned her back on the door as his neighbor walked past.

"Samantha," she said with a slight nod.

"Mrs. Cooper," Samantha said with a reply nod. Mrs. Cooper smiled but eyed her clothing that was strewn across the hall when she had turned around so quickly.

"Everything all right, Samantha?" Mrs. Cooper asked as she stepped carefully over Sam's jeans.

"Yeah, I just brought the wrong set of keys," Sam lied. Mrs. Cooper smiled and walked on as Sam bent over to move her clothes to one side of the hall. She stood up and then leaned against the door in the same defeated way Martin was on the opposite side. Eventually she picked up her clothes, walked down the hall and proceeded into the elevator and out through the lobby.

She ordered a small pepperoni and green pepper pizza and spent the night on the couch watching an old movie marathon. The phone was always close by and she periodically checked for messages even when she knew Martin wouldn't call. She made it halfway through his number a few times before hanging up and pushing the phone away.

She awoke the next morning hardly refreshed or well rested. She awoke twice thinking her phone was ringing and once crying although she couldn't remember why.

She was the first of the team to work that morning and set up a punch bowl and a cake. Danny was next and he took the liberty of "decorating" Martin's desk. He put streamers all over the edge where Martin's name plate usually sat and put twenty balloons under his desk where his feet usually were. He threw strands of ten squares of toilet paper all over the top and covered the computer monitor with post-it notes people had written "Get Well Soon" on.

Vivian picked out the music and Jack put up a banner that said "Over the Hill" across it.

"He won't like that very much," Sam said as Jack stepped off of the ladder.

"It was all they had at the grocery store," Jack defended. Sam nodded a smile on her face. Despite her angry feelings towards Martin at that particular moment, she was thoroughly looking forward to seeing his face when he walked into the bullpen.

The four agents stood around, anxiously awaiting his arrival for the first fifteen minutes. When he still didn't show ten minutes later they headed to their desks, tired of standing around.

Vivian called Reggie to wake him up for school. Jack worked on a mountain of paperwork in his inbox although it looked as if he was distracted by something else. Danny and Samantha threw a football back and forth between their desks until a few agents from other departments showed up and Danny departed to engage in some friendly conversation, namely with a thin red head. Samantha chuckled as she watched Danny smile and joke with her. She toyed with the idea of dialing Martin's number but stubbornly refused to be the first to call.

After an hour, most of the cake was gone along with two or three agents who had to get back to work. Samantha finally resolved to call him, worry getting the better of her. The phone was to her ear and ringing when she saw him walking towards them.

"Welcome back," Danny and Vivian said in unison but Samantha's "Where have you been?" cut clear through it.

"Sorry I'm late; I must have turned off my alarm on Saturday and forgotten to turn it back on." His eyes met Sam's for the briefest of moments, but they told her that she had been the one that turned it off.

"Oops," she said quietly. Danny heard her and gave her one of his infamous grins which luckily went unnoticed when Jack walked in from his office. Martin was quickly surrounded by people, asking how he was doing and a few idiots asking what it was like to be unconscious.

Samantha didn't want to seem unnaturally attached to Martin so she hung back and talked with Vivian.

"You know, the funniest thing happened to me this morning," Viv said, a neutral look on her face.

"Oh really," Sam said, hardly interested but happy for any excuse to keep from talking to Martin.

"I called him to see where he was…" she paused and looked straight at Sam, "…and for some reason he thought it was you calling."

Samantha's eyes were huge and the paper cup full of punch was being smashed in her tightening grip.

"I…um…wonder why he would think that," Sam said trying to cover herself and failing miserably.

"So did I. At first I figured he must have mistaken my number for yours but then he started going on about some fight the two of you apparently had in his apartment." Viv looked pointedly at Sam, much like a mother would when she caught her kid doing something bad, except with amusement. There was an excitement in her eyes that had been absent when she found out about Sam and Jack.

She smiled at Sam and then walked towards Martin. She was glad when Danny walked over to her. She needed all of the excuses she could get to keep from staying at Martin's side the whole time, especially now that Vivian would be watching their every move. It wasn't the first time she'd had to avoid Martin in public.

_One night after an extremely difficult case they all went out for dinner after the paperwork had been completed. Samantha had made sure not to sit _next _to him but across from him. Danny was diagonal from her, Jack on her left and Vivian on the end. She had used special care to talk to Martin and Danny rather than just Martin. She had to restrain from eating off of his plate, a habit she had become quite accustomed to when they went out. The one luxury she had allowed was a small amount of footsie under the table when she was sure no one else would notice._

_Towards the end of the evening Danny asked her to dance. She was wary at first but one look at Martin told her it was okay. He looked amused and even teased that he would get a good laugh. The tune was a kind of jazzy salsa and Danny dipped and spun her until she couldn't walk straight. She was laughing wildly and bowed a few times to the applause and whistles she and Danny were getting from the other three._

"_All right, I'm next," Martin said standing up as a slower song came on. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to slow dance in front of the rest of the team with him._

"_Sorry, I need to get home, maybe next time," she said smiling and hitting him on the arm._

_Of course, Martin came over later, smiling at her, instantly causing her knees to turn into jelly. Before she said anything he turned the radio to a slow song and said,_

"_I believe you owe me a dance." She felt stupid at first, slow dancing across her living room. She knew it was cheesy but the longer they danced, the happier she felt. She loved just being in his arms. They weren't twisting or doing any fancy dance steps but she felt as if she could spend forever just swaying slowly back and forth._

She and Danny talked for a moment about how strange it was that five days had gone by and not a single case had come in. She gave a laugh when the conversation switched over to the red head he'd been talking to. She may have left but her number was on a slip of paper in Danny's pocket.

Martin looked over when he heard her laugh. They made eye contact but she quickly looked away. When she looked back up he was talking to Vivian and Danny (who had left her) and a feeling of guilt was rising in her throat. She knew how Martin was feeling, Jack had done to same to her when they began seeing each other.

_She and Jack had only been seeing each other for three weeks when the FBI held their annual company picnic. Each unit was in charge of bringing an entrée. The missing person's unit was in charge of dessert. Samantha, being the horrible cook she was, brought jell-o instant vanilla pudding with nilla wafers._

_At the gigantic table covered in foods from devilled eggs to chicken and rice casserole to tiramisu, Samantha searched for the section covered by where Vivian, Danny, Jack and Andrew (the agent that left before Martin was hired) had put their dishes. She soon found a spot in between Danny's chocolate covered strawberries (bought at the grocery store on the way there no doubt) and Jack's homemade chocolate truffles._

_But, Jack was an even more terrible chef than Samantha. He couldn't even make grilled cheese. That could only mean one thing, Maria was here. She knew Jack wouldn't bring Hanna and Kate simply because of Andrew's terrible and unceasing profanity._

_She chatted politely with a few agents she recognized from other units before finding Danny. He was rather engrossed with his flavor of the week girlfriend. She was a tall, thin brunette with tennis shorts on and a racer back shirt. She was beautiful and from what Samantha could tell, she had a good head on her shoulders._

_Soon enough, Vivian, Mr. Johnson, and Reggie joined them followed by Andrew and his wife and Jack and Maria. His hand was on her back, guiding her towards the group. He let his arm drop when they came to a halt and he met Samantha's eyes for a brief moment._

_They all ate dinner at the same table but Jack and Maria sat as far away from Samantha as possible. She tried to partake in the different conversations surrounding her but couldn't stay focused on anything. Her mind kept drifting to where Jack sat, his hand resting gently on her knee, looking as if it belonged there. He smiled at his wife in a way she thought he had only reserved for her._

_During the company softball tournament Jack made a big deal out of Danny's strike-out, Vivian's double, and Andrew's ability to piss off the batter so much that the batter actually turned around and threatened to beat Andrew with it but only gave Samantha a high five when she scored a homerun._

_By the end of the day she couldn't tell whether she was more furious of upset that Jack had completely ignored her. Of course, she understood why he had to. They were at a _company_ picnic surrounded by co-workers and superiors not to mention his wife._

Samantha stood by the concessions table remembering how she had gone home that night and cried for the first time over Jack Malone. She couldn't help but think that Jack didn't call her the rest of that weekend and didn't bring it up the following Monday. She knew that the least Martin would have done was call and apologize. Chances are that he would have come over that very night with chocolates or her favorite movie.

Samantha had felt so horrible but at least she knew that Jack had a legitimate reason for ignoring her. And then it dawned on her that Martin felt the exact same way around her every time she had to pretend to care less about him or every time she lied about why she was late for work.

"_But I don't have an excuse," _Samantha thought. She looked over at Martin, eyes wide as he smiled and laughed. She knew what she had to do. She put her cup forcefully on the table and began to walk towards Martin. She was determined and nothing could stand in her way.

"Samantha, I need to talk to you," Jack said, stepping in front of her and completely cutting her off. She tried to get around him, but he persisted and grabbed her arm to hold her in place.

"Okay, well, I need to tell you something as well," she said to Jack. Then she looked over to where Martin stood, his eyes focused in on Jack's hand which was gently grasping her elbow. There was the smallest hint of jealousy in his eyes but Samantha chose to ignore it this one time. "Hey, Martin, come here," she yelled loud enough to snap him out of his trance.

He immediately began ending ongoing conversations and headed over to the other two.

"Sam, I really don't think that Martin needs to hear this," Jack said. He was anxious and continued to hold on to Samantha's arm, afraid that letting go would mean losing the opportunity to tell her what he'd been trying to say for the last week.

"Hang on just one second," Samantha said as she reached out her hand and let Martin grab a hold of it awkwardly. She was so excited about what she was about to say that she became completely oblivious to Jack's increasing frustration which only led to his outbursts.

"Samantha…" he said one last time over her quiet "I want you to hear something," to Martin.

"Jack, what is it?" she said now becoming annoyed at his insistence.

"I'm still in love with you!" he exclaimed.

Samantha's jaw dropped at the same time that Martin let go of her hand. He walked off shaking his head but Samantha could not make herself go after him. In fact, she couldn't even force her eyes to leave Jack's face. Her mind was racing. First, she thought she was hearing things and then she figured she must be going crazy, but as she studied Jack's face, she realized he was being serious.

Jack grabbed her hand and led her gently into his office so that they could talk privately. She sat down in an armchair across from his desk and he sat in the one next to her. She had managed to close her mouth by this point but was still clearly in shock. He reached across the arm of the chair somewhat uncertainly and grabbed her hands. A strange look flitted across her face as she looked down as his giant hands encompassed hers. His wedding ring was missing and she had a quick flashback to this same situation when he had broken up with her and that slim gold band had been present.

"I…I know that this is really sudden…"

"You can say that again," Samantha interrupted and Jack gave her a Look.

"…but you have to know that I've been thinking about this for a long time, especially since Martin's accident. I realized that it could have been you and if I lost you…well, I'd be pretty lost," Jack said. Samantha heard him until he said Martin's name. She started frantically looking around and pulled her hands away from Jack.

"Oh God, Martin heard you didn't he?" Jack stared blankly at her as a frustrated look came over her face.

"Sure I guess, why does it matter?" he asked.

"Never mind," she said. She looked around his office for a moment and then stood up and walked over to a picture of Jack's girls, right next to a picture of the team. She was silent for a long time but when she decided to speak, he listened. "How can you still be in love with me? I didn't even think you were really in love with me to begin with."

He stood up and walked next to her putting a hand on her shoulder. He felt her tense up but she didn't shrug it off and he took this as a good sign.

"Of course I loved you…I just couldn't let you know. I was married."

"Yes, I know that Jack," she said. She wasn't just going to accept this. For all she knew he had found out about her and Martin and was now trying to claim her as his property.

"Samantha," he said turning her around so that she was facing him. Her face was hard and emotionless. "What we had was real, you know that." He leaned in to kiss her but she turned away. He let go of her and she moved over towards the couch in the back of his office. He sat next to her and this time she took his hands.

"You're right…what we had was real. It was real two years ago, but it's long gone." Jack looked defeated. He had expected Samantha to come running back into his arms, happy that he had finally made up his mind about them. "I'm always going to care about you, but you were my past and…Martin is my future."

She watched as a look of shocked comprehension came over Jack's rough features. She was flattered that he was convinced that he loved her without being jealous, but she couldn't believe how much his epiphany hadn't affected her. She had imagined that moment so many times since their break up and figured that she would feel completely different than she did. All she could think about was how upset Martin probably was at that moment.

"Martin?" Jack asked still holding onto her hands. She smiled and nodded her head. She knew her cheeks were probably tinged pink but she was glad that Jack knew. It was almost a relieved feeling.

"Do you…do you love him?" he asked swallowing hard. She cocked her head to the side, seriously considering this question for she wanted to give him an honest answer.

"I'm not sure," she said. Her eyes were downcast but there was a glint in them that had not been present before. "You okay?" she asked giving his hands a light squeeze.

He nodded and then leaned over and kissed her briefly on the forehead. She smiled at him and stood up. He watched her walk out of his office without a backward glance and couldn't help but feel deserted and alone.

Samantha looked around the floor for Martin but couldn't seem to find him anywhere. No one had seen him and she sincerely hoped that he had not gone home, because he would stubbornly refuse to let her into the apartment.

She had finally concluded that that's what he had done and walked to his desk to dial his phone number when she spotted him outside on the balcony. She just looked at him for a moment, standing there in the chilly wind. She knew he was angry if he was blowing off every person who had come to his party.

She walked to the door and began walking towards him. He knew that it was her and didn't even look over as her footsteps came nearer.

"Hey, what're you doing out here?" she asked in an innocent voice once she was next to him. He didn't respond but she knew he heard her because of the way he clenched his jaw. She smiled but rolled her eyes. "Okay, so you heard what Jack said." At the mention of Jack's name Martin turned his head away from her. "That's how you want to do this? Act like a two year old and give me the silent treatment? Come on Martin, talk to…"

"Do you love him?" he said suddenly turning towards her and piercing her with his intense glare.

She tried to keep her face serious but started to giggle.

"Samantha, I find nothing funny about this," he said loudly, insulted by her laughter.

"I'm sorry, it's just that Jack asked the exact same thing whenever I told him about you." She said smiling at him.

"Just…answer the question." He was preparing himself for the worst. He'd been waiting for this since their first night together but he never imagined it would hurt quite this much.

She turned out towards the street and leant up against the hand rail. "I thought I did, for a really long time." He leant next to her and looked down at his hands. "I'm not going to lie to you…I thought I loved him even into the first few months we were together." She was looking at him now and he turned his head to make eye contact with her. "And as I think back, I think I may have actually loved him in some form or fashion…but the feelings I had for Jack don't even compare to how much…how much I love you."

His eyes widened but he didn't need to ask again for clarity, it was written all over her face. Her eyes were glistening and there was something within them that he had never seen before. She was searching his face for some sign of emotion.

"I love you, too" he said in a near whisper. She smiled widely and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her tightly and then she let go and stared into his eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her in for a kiss. It wasn't the most passionate but it was one of the sweetest kisses she had ever received.

**A/N-**The end!

Well, not really considering I'm going to do little snapshots into Martin and Samantha's lives into the future but this is the end of this particular plot line. I hope everyone enjoyed it and I certainly hope that this chapter was worth the insanely long wait. I'm afraid it may be just as long for the next installment because I think that my Harry Potter fans might hunt me down if I don't update soon…eep!

Hope you liked it! Leave me a review…or else! j/k…except about leaving me a review…you should do that. Think of it this way…the more people that review the more likely I am to be suddenly inspired about what to have happen in the proposal…whoops, did I say that out loud?


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